ADDRESS 



Hon. J. MORRISON HARRIS. 



ADDRESS 



Hon. J. MORRISON HARRIS 



UPON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION 



FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY 



OF THE ORGANIZATION 



MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 




DELIVERED 
March 12th, 1894. 



F7'7£ 



Committee on Publication 
1 8 9 6 . 

CLAYTON C. HALL. 
HENRY STOCKBRIDGE, Jr. 
BRADLEY T. JOHNSON. 



Printed by John Murphy & Co. 

Printers to the Maryland Historical Society. 

Baltimore, 1897. 



A T the regular monthly meeting of the Mary- 
l\ land Historical Society, held January 8th, 
1894, the Rev. John G. Morris suggested 
that suitable notice be taken of the approaching 
Fiftieth Anniversary of the organization of the 
Society, which was effected on January 27th, 1844, 
in an upper room in the old Post Office which 
stood on what is now part of the site of the present 
Baltimore City Hall ; and also referred to the fact 
that of the twenty-three persons present at that 
organization, the only survivor was the Hon. J. 
Morrison Harris. 

Judge Ritchie following the suggestion of Dr. 
Monis. proposed that an invitation be extended to 
the Hon. J. Morrison Harris to be present at a 
meeting of the Society to be held in commemorat ion 
of its Anniversary, and to address the Society, for- 
mally or informally as he might prefer, in reference 
to the early history of the Society and the incidents 
attending its formation. This proposition being 
approved of, a Committee was appointed to carry 
it into effect. 

2 5 



6 



It was subsequently determined to adopt as the 
day to be commemorated, the 8th day of March, 
1844, upon which date the Society was incorporated, 
rather than the 27th day of January, upon which 
the preliminary organization was effected ; and at 
the meeting of the Society on the 12th day of 
February, 1894, the following resolution was 
adopted : 

Resolved, That this Society celebrate on the 
evening of March 12th, 1894, the Fiftieth- Anniver- 
sary of its incorporation ; that the Hon. J. Morrison 
Harris, one of the founders of the Society, be in- 
vited by the Committee appointed at the last 
meeting, to make an address on the occasion, and 
that a Committee of five on arrangements and 
invitations be appointed by the Chair. 

The Chair appointed as the Committee on Ar- 
rangements provided for in the foregoing resolu- 
tion, Hon. Albert Ritchie, and Messrs. Edwin 
Warfield, Edward Graham Daves, Henry F. 
Thompson and Mendes Cohen. 

Upon the evening of the 12th of March, 1894, 
conformably to the foregoing proceedings, after the 
regular order of business had been disposed of, the 
Hon. J. Morrison Harris, being introduced by the 
presiding officer, the Rev. John Gr. Morris, Vice- 
President of the Society, spoke as follows : 



ADDRESS. 



Mr. Vice-President and Gentlemen : — 

I APPRECIATE very highly the honor you 
have done me by your invitation to address 
you on an occasion of so much interest, 
and beg you also to accept my thanks for the 
greatly esteemed compliment conveyed by the 
placing of my name on the roll of your Honorary 
Membership. 

Gentlemen and Ladies : — 

I heartily congratulate you that the lapse of 
years has but added to the corporate vigor and 
intelligent scope of the earnest and .substantial 
labors by which our Maryland Society has won 
its recognised position in the fronl ranks of the 
kindred associations of the country. And it is 
indeed gratifying to know that your large and 
invaluable collections enable scholarly research to 
penetrate intelligently the darkness in which so 

7 



8 



much of our past history was entombed, and 
have taught us how little regarded had been the 
Records of our past, and that it was your timely 
intervention which saved the Colonial records, 
of so great value, from being utilized to light 
the fires in the State House in which Wash- 
ington uttered the ever memorable words of his 
Farewell Address. 

My first purpose when I was honored by the 
invitation of your Committee, was to present and 
seek to illustrate the wide scope, and appreciated 
value of such organized effort as yours, to rescue 
from unmerited oblivion all possible fragments 
of the earlier history of our State ; to indulge in 
pleasant retrospect of what has been done by our 
own and kindred associations tending to illustrate 
that most interesting theme, the birth, progress, 
and growth of our State and Country through the 
incidents of Colonial story ; the struggle of the 
Revolution ary era, and the swift progress toward 
magnificent fulfilment which marks the record of 
our own day. Careful reference, however, to the 
discourses heretofore delivered before your Society 
and in the hands of its members, soon satisfied me 
that such topics had been too fully and forcibly 
discussed to tempt further handling, and that there 
would be small profit, either to you or myself, 
in winnowing over again the well-threshed grain. 
It then occurred to me that though I had for 



years held office in the Society, my recollection 
of the details of the large work it had done, was 
very partial and indistinct, and that as a great 
part of your membership, with fewer opportunities. 
probably knew less than I did of the details of 
the Society's work, it might not be either un- 
profitable or uninteresting rapidly to review it, 
which course would at least secure praise for 
those to whose intelligent and unceasing labors 
the Society owes its present high position and 
usefulness. 

Men die, and institutions perish, and after tears 
shed, and regrets expressed, the crucial question 
too often comes up, as to what the individual, or 
the organization has done, to merit praise or 
justify regret. Fortunately for this Society, as 
well in the story of its distinguished dead, as 
in the record of its meritorious service, we tind 
satisfactory answer to such fitting interrogation. 

The suggestions preliminary to active effort, 
took formal shape in a meeting held in the 
rooms of the Maryland Colonization Society "to 
organize an Institution for the purpose of col- 
lecting the scattered materials of the early his- 
tory of this State, and for other collateral 
'objects." This meeting was held in what was 
known at that day, January 27th, 1*11. as 
the •■ Posl Office Building," and a formal organi- 
zation was effected. 



10 

Mr. Brantz Mayer, in his inaugural address as 
President, delivered March 17th, 1867, names as 
present at the meeting of January 27th, 1844, 
Jno. Spear Smith, Robert Gilmor, Si\, Chas. F. 
Mayer, Bernard U. Campbell, Jno. L. Cary, Wm. 
A. Talbott, Fielding Lucas, John I. Donaldson, 
Robert Cary Long, and Sebastian F. Streeter; all 
of whom he notes were dead at the time of his 
address. And names as the then survivors : Jno. 
H. B. Latrobe. Dr. James Hall, J. Morrison 
Harris, Jno. P. Kennedy, George Wm. Brown, 
Dr. Joshua I. Cohen, Dr. Stephen Collins, Fred- 
erick Wm. Brune, Jr., Capt. Robert Leslie, and 
himself. He further states that February 1st, 
1844, Jno. Spear Smith was elected President, 
Jno. VanLear McMahon, Vice-President, Brantz 
Mayer, Corresponding Secretary, Sebastian F. 
Streeter, Recording Secretary, and Stephen Collins, 
Librarian. In connection with this record, my 
attention has been called to the fact, that of the 
nineteen gentlemen who took part in that meeting 
I am the solitary survivor ! The late General 
John Spear Smith was the first President, and 
to the great benefit of the organization continued 
to hold the office up to the time of his decease, 
a period of twenty-two years. 

Any attempted review of the work of an active 
and earnest Society covering a period of fifty years, 
must necessarily call for much discriminating se- 



11 

lection, and my hearers, so many of whom have 
been specially prominent in the important work 
that has been done, will very probably feel that 
many a casus omissus should have received notice. 
I can only say in advance that I plead guilty, 
and throw myself on the mercy of the Court, 
suggesting, however, that my review has involved 
the careful examination of four volumes of re- 
corded work, interesting, but — bulky. 

Our highly valued President, Mr. Wallis, I find 
made the first contribution to the collections of the 
Society in the form of a Massachusetts Pine Tree 
Shilling, and so the Society started upon a specie 
basis. The earliest accessions in membership were 
prompt and numerous, embracing large numbers of 
the most influential and esteemed of our citizens. 

Prominent among these was Robert Gilmor, 
who for man} r years was one of the most zealous 
and valued members of the Society and a liberal 
contributor to its collections. Special reference 
to the many other distinguished citizens of that 
day who signalized their interest in the infant 
society, would, because of their number and indi- 
vidual importance, take over-much space, but the 
records show that an earnest zeal animated all, 
and the Society advanced rapidly in significance, 
value, Mini public esteem. 

We now touch a most important and interesting 
matter which as it dragged its slow length along, 



12 

in its progress towards final settlement, gave rise 
to much trouble, and protracted and acrimonious 
discussion. To enter into the voluminous phases 
of the interchange of views in the matter of the 
George Peabody Fund would fill many pages, 
and perhaps enliven very needlessly the ashes of 
old fires, for it ultimately resulted in large ad- 
vantage to each of the parties to the controversy ; 
by securing to our own Society a most desirable 
and essential autonomy, with later on a most 
liberal endowment, and to The Peabody Institute an 
independent and generous provision ; while from 
beginning to end of the heated controversy, the fair 
views — the honorable solicitude — and the signal 
liberality of George Peabody, emphasised the large- 
ness of his nature, and won for him the enduring 
gratitude and praise of all the parties involved in 
the controversy. I do not propose to go into the 
details of this embroglio, and am content for the 
moment, with this reference, to pass from the sub- 
ject; noting, however, that in the long continued 
and able discussions to which it gave rise, Judges 
Wm, Fell Giles and George William Brown, 
Messrs. Brantz and Charles Mayer, General 
Johnson, and others of our membership, ably 
vindicated the position of the Society and very 
fully maintained its claims. 

In 1844 the Lecture feature of the Society was 
inaugurated by Mr. Charles F. Mayer, who in 



13 

subsequent years was followed by Jno. P. Ken- 
nedy, J. Morrison Harris, Thomas Donaldson, 
Geo. Wm. Brown, Brantz Mayer, Sebastian F. 
Streeter, Geo. W. Burnap, Jno. G. Morris, and 
Wm. Fell Giles. 

These successive lectures attracted large audi- 
ences and were so well received, that a revival of 
the system might be thought desirable, but that in 
later years the demand has been so fully supplied 
from other sources. 

During the same year, 1844, among other im- 
portant accessions, the Society acquired the very 
valuable Journal of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 
— kept during his mission to Canada in 1776, 
in company with Benjamin Franklin and Chief 
Justice Chase, — one of the most interesting papers 
in its possession ; together with a medal presented 
on the 50th anniversary of the Independence of 
the United States, upon his attaining his 90th 
year ; which was accompanied by a letter from 
John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, 
transmitting a copy of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. In the same year the Society became 
possessed of another of its most interesting papers. 
in the manuscript of Father White, for the 
great interest and value of which, reference 
must be had to the Fund Publications of the 
Society among wliieli this appeared as Fund 
Publication, No. 7. 
3 



14 

About this time also a new feature in its opera- 
tions was introduced, and its first collation was 
" laid upon the table," and the members were 
invited to take such action in the premises as 
might be deemed appropriate. This supper feature 
held its own for a long time, and as it was very 
popular and tended to good fellowship, I have 
wondered for what reason it was dropped. Per- 
haps the rapidly increasing membership threat- 
ened to make it an interference with judicious 
economy ; but it was a pleasant and valuable 
feature, and brought our members into better 
knowledge of each other, and its renewal might 
repay all it would cost. It is worth a good deal 
to knit closer the bonds of fellowship in such an 
association, and the organ that takes charge of 
a pleasant supper, often reacts in well directed 
liberality on higher lines. 

This reference leads me to recall another feature, 
since abandoned, of which I have to say, Ichabod ! 
— for its glory too, has departed, — the Society's An- 
nual Dinners. For sufficient reasons, I suppose 
the last of these has been eaten ; but they were 
of value far beyond their cost, and the guests who 
were gathered at those hospitable boards were 
among the most distinguished men of their time. 
The first banquet was very brilliant. It was given 
at the old Exchange Hotel, now in the occupancy 
of the Customs and other officials of the Govern- 



15 

ment, and was held in commemoration of the 
organization of the Society and the landing of 
the Pilgrims of Maryland. Among other dis- 
tinguished guests, were Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, 
and Daniel Webster. It was a brilliant and 
thoroughly successful affair, and from certain of 
its incidents it made a vivid impression on my 
memory. I remember that Sir Henry's speech 
was well conceived and eloquent. From Webster, 
however, great things were very naturally ex- 
pected, and the interest of the occasion centered 
on him. The popular expectation however, as 
I happened to realize, seemed dangerously near 
disappointment. As an officer of the Society I 
was placed on one side of the intellectual giant, 
and for awhile I heartily wished that I had been 
anywhere else. It was for a season a frigid 
neighborhood, and I recall very distinctly what 
happened. The great man was emphatically, 
"grand, gloomy and peculiar," and an Arctic ice- 
berg would have been as comfortable a neighbor 
at a social dinner. While Sir Henry was speak- 
ing, I ventured very modestly to suggest to Mr. 
Webster thai his name was the next on our list 
of speakers. He looked at me, and his aspecl was 

lowering and ominous, and I would have 1 n 

more comfortable had he looked anywhere else. 
After sitting silent for some time, he suddenly 
said, "give me some brandy." I promptly pro- 



16 



cured a small decanter of the best. He then 
turned suddenly and said in his deep, thunderous 
tones, " You people in Maryland call me ' Black 
Dan ; ' you do not like me." This being in the 
nature of a thunderbolt, upset me ; in point of 
fact, it embodied more truth than poetry, for high 
as was the popular estimate of his mental power, 
the personal appreciation was, well, a little mixed. 
I was emboldened, however, to say that nowhere 
was his intellectual greatness more highly appre- 
ciated than in Maryland, and that I thought he 
did our people injustice. He turned away and 
ruminated, and I feared our program was in 
some peril of collapse. Just then Sir Henry closed 
amidst great applause, and our unconscious toast- 
master at the other end of the table announced 
the next toast, to which he added, Mr. Webster 
would do the Society the honor to respond. The 
applause that greeted the mention of his name was 
tremendous, and evidently as sincere as hearty. 
To my relief the great man rose, not merely to 
his feet, but to the height of a magnificent speech, 
which was applauded to the echo, and to which 
no auditor gave more thankful and attentive hear- 
ing than myself. I was the first to express the 
admiration and thanks of his audience ; in fact, 
nothing could have been more heartfelt than my 
thanks, for it had looked to me like a dark piece 
of woods and we were brilliantly out of it. 



17 

The succeeding banquets of the Society were 
very successful and gave great pleasure to all 
concerned, but I may not specially describe them. 

In 1858 my engagements in Congress required 
me to resign the office of Corresponding Secretary 
which I had held for ten consecutive years, and 
the Rev. Dr. Dalrymple succeeded to the position 
and held it up to the time of his death, being- 
succeeded by the gentleman who to the great 
benefit of the Society -fills it at this time. 

In May, 1866, the Society decided to tender a 
reception to Mr. Peabody, the great importance 
of whose service to it justifies this further refer- 
ence, and he was addressed by a committee in 
reference to the subject. Pending action on the 
matter a communication was received from him 
referring to the issue that had arisen with the 
Peabody Institute, stating his conclusions that 
unsurmountable obstacles existed in the way of 
the union of the two societies, acknowledging the 
rights of this Society in the question at issue, and 
expressing his conviction that the differing views 
seemed to forbid the hope of harmonious inter- 
action, and as a personal favor asking thai this 
Society should decline the acceptance of the part 
assigned to it by his letter of February, 1857. 
This correspondence exhibits this distinguished 
philanthropist in the high lights of full, frank 
and manly action, while there runs through it an 



18 



undercurrent of pained feeling quite touching in 
its character. These details seem specially appro- 
priate in connection with his letter to the Society 
of November 5th, 1866, in which he renews the 
expression of his satisfaction at its action in acced- 
ing to his wishes ; and as an expression of his 
high appreciation of the promptness and courtesy 
with which that action was taken, he presented 
to it an order on New York for twenty thousand 
dollars, to be permanently invested and the in- 
come to be applied to the uses and objects of 
the Society. 

Somewhat later, the Society was called upon to 
give expression to the sincere regret of its members 
upon the decease of General John Spear Smith, 
who for twenty-two years had filled the office of 
President. His heart had been fully in his duties 
and he was exemplary and untiring in their dis- 
charge. Liberal in the donation of very valuable 
contributions, courtly in his demeanor, and un- 
wearied in his zeal to promote its welfare, his 
devotion to the interests of the Society contributed 
in a great measure to its success, and won the 
cordial esteem of its membership. Succeeding 
him in 1867, Mr. Brantz Mayer became Presi- 
dent, a compliment well bestowed in view of his 
long continued, intelligent and earnest interest in 
the affairs of the Society from the initial point 
of its organization, which tended largely to its 



19 

progress, usefulness and reputation. In 1871, 
however, his duties as an officer of the army 
required his residence in California, and upon 
his resignation he was succeeded in the Presi- 
dency by the late John H. B. Latrobe. 

From 1860 to I860, the war period, the mem- 
bership largely fell off, and the monthly attendance 
was generally limited to eight or ten members. 
This was a natural outcome of absorbing national 
events and divided opinions, and it was left to 
the mailed hand of war to write out the undvinsr 
record of those momentous years. 

Subsequently the Society was called upon to 
take fitting notice of the death of three of its 
most prominent and esteemed members, Brantz 
Mayer and Judges Giles and Brown. Reference 
has already been made to the marked and valued 
services of the first of these gentlemen, and all 
realized that the deaths of Judges Giles and 
Brown, had deprived the Society of two of its 
most earnest and valued members, while the com- 
munity at large suffered in the taking away of 
able and thoroughly conscientious Judges who 
laboring always to be just, and shrinking from 
no required labor, ever faithfully performed all 
the duties of their high offices. 

Many matters in the record from 1879 to 1890 
certainly merit particular reference, but a due re- 
spect to the lapse of time precludes my dwelling 



20 

upon more than a few. Within this period oc- 
curred a remarkable celebration. The good city 
had reached the 150th anniversary of its founda- 
tion, and stirred with enthusiasm the Society went 
into the business of commemoration with a rush. 
The occasion was certainly of much local interest, 
and created a general fervor not only among our 
own members, but in the Municipal Government, 
and among the citizens at large. The action of 
the Society alone spreads over so many pages as' 
to forbid anything beyond a very succinct notice. 
Committees were appointed, and committees re- 
ported, and plan after plan was considered. Inter 
alia, Mr. Wallis was invited to deliver an oration 
but was unable from the press of other matters 
to accept the invitation, and Judge Phelps, always 
equipped, was appointed in his stead. Reports 
poured in. Programs were discussed and decided. 
A grand civic procession was arranged, and the 
laying of the corner stone of the New Post Office 
Building by the Masonic Fraternity settled upon ; 
striking scenic arrangements were made in con- 
nection with an oration at the Academy of Music. 
" Baltimore (its site) in possession of the Indians," 
" Baltimore in 1730," " Baltimore at the period 
of the Celebration," and last but not least in our 
City of good living, a grand banquet. The zeal 
of the Society was fully shared by the civil authori- 
ties, and a great procession passed through the 



21 

streets illustrative of the historic growth and 
actual development of the manifold industries of 
the City, which surpassed all kindred displays in 
our community, and which, enriched by its multi- 
form scenic accompaniments, gave to citizens and 
strangers a most interesting and instructive lesson 
of development long to be remembered by the 
generation that witnessed it. This celebration with 
all its other pleasant features, resulted in large 
additions to the membership of this society and 
increased interest in its work. 

Shortly after, it may be because the great celebra- 
tion had shed over it an added lustre, the etymology 
of the City's name came to the front, and Judge 
Phelps read an interesting paper on that subject, 
in which the learned author held the name to 
have been derived from " Bal," a frequent prefix 
to Irish names, and signifying " Town or Place," 
;iik1 " ti," "more," signifying "the Great Being.' 1 
An earnest and animated discussion ensued; one 
learned member insisting that the name had refer- 
ence to the ancient worship of "Baal," and that the 
true division of the name was "Bal — teim — more," 
signifying "Great Fire of Baal," urging in support 
of \\\< virw. thai one of the two towns in Ireland 
bearing the name, was known to be near the site 
of a famous altar to Baal. 

The decision of this abstruse matter, however, 

was held to be outside the historical researches 
4 



22 



of our Society, and it was respectfully turned over 
to the Royal Irish Society of Dublin, which is 
supposed to be still considering it. 

In 1882 occurred the interesting and highly 
important transfer to the custody of the Society 
of the Archives of the State, and the Trustees of 
the Athenaeum were instructed to have a fire- 
proof vault constructed for these most valuable 
papers. The possession of these documents and 
the wise and intelligent uses the Society has made 
of them, continue to be among the most striking 
illustrations of its value and work. The number, 
importance and fulness of their contents preclude 
any attempt to deal with them in such a paper 
as this. Fortunately for the Society their editing- 
is in the hands and under the most intelligent 
supervision of one of its learned and honored 
members. 

About this time the Society had the pleasure 
of hearing from the lips of one of our most dis- 
tinguished Arctic explorers, Lieutenant Greely, a 
thrilling account of his daring adventures and 
sharp sufferings in Polar Seas, in search of that 
undiscovered Pole which no explorer has yet been 
so fortunate as to reach. This very interesting- 
address made a most agreeable impression upon 
the large audience which the reputation of the 
explorer had attracted, and on the unlooked for 
call of the presiding officer, I had the pleasure 



23 

of expressing the thanks of all present to the dis- 
tinguished speaker for his eloquent and highly 
valued address. 

In December, 1888, Mr. Albert Ritchie, on be- 
half of those who had recently secured the very 
valuable "Calvert Papers" made formal presen- 
tation of them in a most interesting and exhaustive 
report showing their marked historic value. The 
completeness and length of this report preclude 
my consideration of it in detail, while it well merits 
a more extended notice. A paper was also read 
by Mr. Cohen elaborately discussing the subject 
and intelligently and lucidly showing the great 
value of the newly acquired documents. Dr. Wm. 
Hand Browne followed with a full and masterly 
paper upon the same subject, the length of which 
also precludes more than reference. 

In connection with this acquisition it is pleasant 
to call attention to the statement made by one 
of the speakers, that this valuable collection of 
historic papers was the gift of a number of ladies 
ami gentlemen whose names were not disclosed. 
It may be regretted that so handsome a gifl was 
made sub silentio, bul from the fad that there 
were ladies among the donors we must conclude 
thai it was their modest wish for reticence thai 
caused the secrel to be kept. 

In September, 1891, the Society was convened 
to take action in relation to the decease of its 



24 



esteemed presiding officer, John H. B. Latrobe, 
for so many years its efficient and honored head, 
and whose funeral it had attended in a body. At 
this special meeting all other business was laid 
aside and the session devoted to the expression of 
the deep appreciation of the Society's loss. Vice- 
President Stockbridge submitted a full and touch- 
ing report, reviewing the late President's long- 
continued services both to the Society and the 
community at large, the salient points of his long 
and honorable career, his thoroughness as a law- 
yer, the breadth of his views and labors as a 
philanthropist, his genial and kindly nature, and 
his unceasing and intelligent industry in the varied 
lines of activity to which he devoted himself, " Till 
like a clock worn out by eating time, the wheels 
of weary life at last stood still." To the resolu- 
tions submitted, Mr. Reverdy Johnson spoke in 
a full and interesting review of his life and work, 
and was followed by General Bradley T. Johnson 
in a feeling and comprehensive speech, covering 
the public career and valuable work of the de- 
ceased President ; which was further emphasized 
and illustrated by an able and striking address 
from Mr. Mendes Cohen. President Gilman ex- 
pressed in a letter emphatic testimony to the 
character and services of the deceased, and Mr. 
Francis P. Stevens and Colonel Craighill paid 
earnest and heartfelt tribute to his memory- It 



25 

is pleasant to know that just previous to his death 
a committee appointed for the purpose had gained 
his permission to have his portrait taken, which 
gave him unaffected pleasure, so that we have the 
satisfaction of feeling that in one sense we will 
always have him with us. 

At a later meeting the Society did itself the 
honor of electing to the Presidency, by its unani- 
mous vote, Mr. Severn Teackle Wallis. 

The imperfect review of the growth and work 
of our Society, gentlemen, which I now close, in- 
volves in its imperfection a high compliment to 
the intelligent zeal that has accomplished so much 
that even brief reference to it in fuller detail would 
far transcend the proper limitations of an address 
of this description. In tracing the records of the 
Society's work in the course of these fifty years, 
I have but briefly touched some special mile stones 
on its line of progress. Very significant and rapid 
has that progress been. In 1844 the organization 
of the Society was effected. Within the twenty - 
seven succeeding years its acquisitions had become 
so large and valuable as to entitle it to rank next 
t<> the Massachusetts Society, which in the succeed- 
ing years it is believed to have surpassed in the 
extent and importance of its collections. Up t" 

the date I have referred to. contributions varied 
in character and great in value had poured in 
upon it. and accessions to its manuscripts and 



26 

library were made at every monthly meeting. 
" The Maryland Proprietary and State Papers," 
"The Grilmor Maryland Papers," "The Peabody 
Index to Maryland Documents in The State Paper 
Office, London, being abstracts and descriptions 
of over 1700 Documents," "The Gist Papers," 
"The Purviance Papers," "The Towson Gift," of 
nineteen case volumes of coins and medals, mark 
this rapid accretion. Mr. Mayer fittingly styled 
this last a metallic history of many nations and 
various lives, comprising as it does, Greek and 
Roman medals from a point 300 years before 
Christ to Anno Domini 685, Arabian, Caucasian, 
Mogul, Morocco, and Turkish coins, together with 
an unbroken series of French medals from the 
Merovingian kings to the date of the Bourbons. 
In addition to all this, the large and varied Li- 
brary, which since the acquisition of the collection 
of the Baltimore Library Company, comprises 
some thirty thousand volumes, in all branches of 
literature, opens peculiar opportunities to the stu- 
dent ; to all of which is added " the Gallery of Fine 
Arts," a cherished feature of the Society, presenting 
some of the choicest models of the painter's and 
sculptor's art. 

I have thus grouped in very brief review some- 
thing of the work and possessions of the Society, — 
with much of which perhaps, as with many of its 
later members, I have been imperfectly acquainted, 



27 



— to show its large and varied acquisitions, and as 
emphasising its labors, its popularity and its 
wealth. Like begets like, and success is a pro- 
lific mother. Fifty years is but a brief span in the 
calm life of an organization buttressed by assured 
means and animated by an earnest spirit. It has 
done much, but more remains to be achieved. The 
story even of our own State is not fully told, and 
further acquisitions may yet brilliantly illustrate 
its annals. But, while ever prompt to fulfill all 
duties to the State,- a wide field, which its essayists 
have but partly entered in the past, offers un- 
garnered wealth to our members. The century in 
which we live has been crowded with great events. 
Development has been its characteristic. Progress 
has been its watchword. Science has achieved in it 
her brightest triumphs. The activities of nations 
have been multiplied, and the scope of human 
energy enlarged. The historic field is ever white 
unto the harvest, and the rewards of the reapers 
would be alike varied and opulent. 

The survey from some elevated point of a wide 
expanse of natural scenery, combining the mag- 
nificence of mountain ranges, the sparkling course 
of noble rivers, the majestic stretch of old forests, 
and the quiel beauty of cultivated fields, ministers 
an intense gratification to him who is alive to the 
beauties of the material world. Mere nobly in- 
teresting must be the prospect that opens before 



28 

the mental vision of one who from the heights of 
an impartial and intelligent observation, overlooks 
the course of a nation, and addresses himself to 
the task of recording the mighty features of its 
progress. 

Amid the thronging incidents, it may be, of 
centuries of national existence, the fierce antago- 
nism of variant influences, the confused admixture 
of causes, the conflict of passions, and the rivalry 
of leaders, it is his office, with discriminating 
vision, to detect the points of salience, and through 
the mazes of incertitude steadfastly to trace out 
the truth. 

The illustration of a special passion in the 
flowing verse of the poet, or the development 
of character in the fancied narrative of the novel- 
ist, is of comparatively easy execution ; but the 
evisceration of truth from the mixed materials 
of national life, and the elucidation of a faithful 
history, taxes higher powers and merits greater 
commendation. 

The century now rushing to its close, is one of 
magnificent development on all the lines of human 
progress, and the essayist may find none in the 
long sweep of the world's history more crowded 
with startling and controlling influences. He will 
note how in its course States have risen and States 
have sunk — trace the forceful influence of modern 
thought — the growth of nobler impulse — the ma- 



29 



jestic progress of the arts of peace — the broadened 
scope of learning — the loftier flight of science — the 
opened vistas of discovery — the proud assertion 
of individual rights — the new conception of free 
government, and multiplied appliances of art. 

Within the broad field of interest thus rapidly 
outlined there is verge and space both for his- 
torian and essayist, and while few are competent to 
grapple with the continuous narrative of national 
events, and give us compendious and authoritative 
history ; many may tread with interest and in- 
struction to others, the less formal and methodical 
path of the successful essayist. 



A MEMORIAL 



Hon. SEVERN TEACKLE WALLIS. 



PROCEEDINGS 



MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



Ifn Commemoration 



OF THE LATE 



Hod, SETEM TEACKLE WALLIS. 



PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY. 




MEETINGS HELD 

April 12th and May 14th, 1894. 



PROCEEDINGS. 



A SPECIAL Meeting of the Society, called by 
order of the Vice-Presidents (by notices in- 
serted in the Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore 
American and the Daily News), was held at its 
Rooms, on April twelfth, 1894, at four o'clock, p. m. 

Vice-President Rev. John G. Morris took the 
chair and stated that the purpose of the meeting 
was that the Society might take some preliminary 
action in relation to the death of the Honorable 
Severn Teackle Wallis, which had occurred at 
12.10 o'clock, a. m., on Wednesday, the eleventh 
of April, instant. 

There were present twenty-nine members. 

Mr. Reverdv Johnson introduced the following 
Preamble and Resolutions, which wore seconded 
by Mr. Groddard and unanimously adopted: — 

" Whereas, It is with the mosl profound sorrow 
that the Maryland Eistorical Society has Learned 
of the death of Severn Teackle Wallis. its honored 
President ; — Therefore, 

6 



6 

" Besolved, First, That as a mark of respect to his 
memory, the officers of the Society and as many 
of its members as can do so, attend in a body the 
funeral of its late President : — 

" Second, That a committee of five members of 
the Society be appointed by the Chair to prepare 
and submit, at its next regular meeting, Resolu- 
tions expressing the sentiments of this Society 
regarding the loss which it has sustained in the 
death of its President, and its high appreciation 
of that nobility of purpose which characterized and 
dignified his entire career." 

The Chair subsequently appointed as such com- 
mittee the following members, who were formally 
notified April 16th, 1894, viz. : 

Mr. Reverdy Johnson, Chairman. 
Hon. Thomas J. Morris. Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte. 
Mr. Richard D. Fisher. Mr. H. Irvine Keyser. 

On motion, it was resolved that the members of 
the Society meet at its rooms at half-past two 
o'clock on the afternoon of the thirteenth instant 
and, headed by the senior officers then present, 
proceed in a body to attend the funeral services of 
the late President at Saint Paul's Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, where pews would be reserved for 
their accommodation. 

The meeting then adjourned. 



AT the next ensuing Regular Meeting of the 
Society, held May 14th, 1894, Mr. Reverdy 
Johnson, Chairman of the special committee 
appointed to prepare Resolutions on the death of 
the President, introduced the following resolu- 
tions : — 

Resolved, That in sympathy with the entire com- 
munity of our State, the Maryland Historical 
Society deplores the death of Severn Teackle 
Wallis, so long conspicuous among the leaders of 
men. 

The rare qualities of mind and character that 
marked his career have impressed themselves upon 
the professional and political life of the State, and 
they will long continue their moulding influence 
upon those who follow, whether old or young. 

Life so enriched by nature and cultivation can 
never fail of the good work for which Providence 
designs it, and its silent influence extends far 
beyond all visible signs. 

Resolved, That in bringing our special tribute to 
the memory of our late distinguished President, 
this Society records its deep sense of loss in the 
removal of one who earnestly sympathized with its 
work, and was always ready to counsel and sustain. 

In him death has taken from us an officer, 
adviser and friend, and the void it loaves can be 
realized only by those who know as wo did the 
noblo qualities so rarely combined. 
6 



8 



Resolved, That these Resolutions and the pro- 
ceedings to which they relate be entered upon the 
records of the Society and the Secretary be in- 
structed to transmit a copy of such minutes to the 
family of the deceased. 

Speaking to these Resolutions, Mr. Johnson 
said : — 

The blow that has fallen upon our community 
did not come without preparation. Many months 
of sickness had been the forerunner, and accumu- 
lating years had heralded the end. 

But when one so conspicuous, so gifted and 
many-sided in his influence is called away, there is 
a void left which only time and the active stir of 
modern life can fill. 

What Mr. Wallis has been to his fellow-men all 
here know full well. The scholar, the lawyer, the 
active public spirit, the upright, chivalrous gentle- 
man, the man without spot or blemish to tarnish a 
well-earned name, is a combination rarely met with 
in these stirring and testing times ; and his fellow- 
citizens, his most immediate circle of friends, and 
the bar which he adorned, have cause to be proud 
of the legacy he bequeaths. 

This Society over which he presided in thought 
and sympathy, though disease withheld his pres- 
ence, can with heartfelt sorrow inscribe memorial 



9 



words upon his tomb, and we point our successors 
to this signal example of a life devoted to duty 
in its many forms, made brighter by the trials 
through which it passed. 

It becomes us, Sir, as it is our earnest wish, to 
bear full tribute to the memory of our departed 
President, and to spread upon the records of the 
Society a lasting memorial of one, who while 
guiding its interests, has added honor to its name. 

Seconding these Resolutions, Mr. Charles E. 
Phelps, said: — 

Mr. Vice-President, — 

By a full month the world has grown older since 
all that was mortal of one of its noblest and best 
has been gathered into its bosom, amid lamenta- 
tions as sincere as they are universal. Through 
the conventional "forms, modes, shows of grief" 
there was the overwhelming sense of a great public 
loss. In response to a spontaneous feeling of all 
hearts, the tokens of appreciation and mourning 
were unusually significant and impressive. As a 
marked tribute of respect to one whose position at 
the head of his profession was far from being his 
only ui- his greatest title t<> regard, the courts of 
justice were closed, and tor one solemn day the 
commonplace ami the sordid were, as by common 
consent, forgotten, in the contemplation of a lofty 



10 

ideal. In the presence of State and Federal 
Judges, and of the entire bar of Baltimore, the 
thoughts of all minds struggled for expression in 
an affecting memorial, in appropriate addresses 
and in a fitting judicial response. 

There were earnest voices that spoke, and there 
was that in the subject and the occasion which lent 
to their utterances unwonted dignity and pathos. 
Other voices have been heard and other tributes 
have been gratefully rendered — from the public 
press — from the University of which Mr. Wallis 
was for many years the honored head — from the 
social club over which he gracefully presided — and 
from the various learned institutions with which 
he was officially connected. After all has been 
said that can be said, we feel the force of the 
Roman historian's expression, that to do justice to 
the life and character of Cicero would require his 
eloquence. " The lips are silent that alone could 
pay him worthy tribute." 

And yet one more pious duty remains to be 
performed. Upon us here present the great public 
bereavement falls with peculiar weight. For the 
second time within a brief period the Maryland 
Historical Society has been called upon to mourn 
the death of its presiding officer. Both were 
lawyers of eminence in their several and distinct 
professional careers. Each had his own sphere of 
labor and usefulness, and each was a master within 



11 

that sphere. Both were accomplished and versa- 
tile men outside of their profession. Both lived 
to an advanced age, long and blameless lives 
without a blemish. In Mr. Latrobe we lost an 
active and laborious presiding officer, who had a 
full appreciation of the true scope and mission of 
this Society, was perfectly familiar with its archives 
and work, and was able to animate its meetings 
and enliven the graver duties of the chair, by a 
rich store of delightful anecdote and instructive 
reminiscence. When the chair made vacant by 
his death was offered to the acceptance of Mr. 
Wall is, it was well understood that from physical 
infirmity he would probably for a long time be 
unable to discharge, in person, its active duties. 
But the Society felt that in honoring him it but 
honored itself, and was proud to claim as its Presi- 
dent the foremost citizen of the State. Although 
long past his scriptural threescore years and ten, 
and struggling with disease, there was a general 
reluctance to concede thai Mr. Wallis was, in fact, 
an aged man. His personality was so bright and 
buoyant, his wit so sparkling and pungent, his 
judgment so ripened and well balanced, his 
spirit so fervid and forceful, — there was such a 
radianl atmosphere of intellectual vigor and ag- 
gressive honesty enveloping that feeble frame, thai 
hi- friends would start to hear him spoken of as 
aored. We thoughl of him as a sick man who 



12 

would be well again ; we could not believe that his 
record was made up, his life-work done, his useful 
and brilliant career closed. We even hoped that 
in offering him this new and congenial opportunity 
for public service, there might be something for 
him to look forward to with interest, something to 
make firmer his hold upon life, something that 
might count in the balancing of the forces of life 
and death, something to serve as a friendly hand, 
the " blessed hand," extending towards the dear 
brother descending into the abyss. We permitted 
ourselves to indulge the hope that in this tranquil 
haven of historical research that wearied spirit 
might find a dignified repose, and from it, renewed 
energy and vigor. We fondly anticipated the 
vision in our midst, of that classic presence, whose 
keenly chiseled features in symphony with the 
clear-cut tones of his sharp incisive speech, were 
the outward expression of the lightning-like ra- 
pidity and clearness of his intellect. 

It is in the disappointment of these hopes and 
anticipations that the general calamity comes home 
to us with something of the weight of a domestic 
bereavement. We grieve that we are deprived of 
his wise council, his sound judgment, his exquisite 
taste, his ripe scholarship, his large experience, 
and we mourn the loss of one whose social accom- 
plishments, charming courtesy and admirable tact, 
united with an electric quickness of apprehension 



13 

and innate passion for justice and fair dealing, 
would have given us the ideal of a presiding 
officer. 

Stat nominis umbra. There is left us the posses- 
sion of his great name ; and through him we 
connect historically with all the great names that 
have shed lustre upon the Maryland bar, with his 
preceptor, the eloquent and gifted Wirt, and with 
Wirt's contemporaries, with Martin, Harper, Win- 
der, Pinkney and Taney. 

Our lamented President was the last survivor of 
the next succeeding generation, represented by 
such eminent lawyers as Johnson, McMahon, Nel- 
son, Latrobe and Steele. The death of Mr. Steele 
placed Mr. Wallis by universal consent at the head 
of the Maryland bar. With what conscientious 
labor, both in general and special preparation, he 
rose to that proud eminence — with what luminous 
and logical method he unfolded his stores of learn- 
ing — with what consummate skill he extorted truth 
from the lips of an unwilling witness, or marshalled 
facts in the order of demonstration — with what 
mastery of the weapons of invective he riddled 
and crushed falsehood and fraud— with what srace- 
ful and commanding eloquence he captiv.it. (1 courts 
niid juries; all this and much more, lias been the 
theme of unstinted eulogy from his surviving pro- 
fessional brethren. Bui no point has been more 
unanimously emphasized, than his delicate sense of 



14 

personal and professional honor. So far as mortal 
vision may penetrate, a cleaner conscience never 
sought the presence of its Maker. The basis of 
his character was a profound and absorbing passion 
for truth and justice Take this innate sense 1, of 
justice, warm it up until it flames, arm it with wit, 
with satire, with invective, inspire it with courage, 
endow it with the staying qualities of a thorough- 
bred, give it a rapid ringing voice, often high- 
pitched, and sometimes in its energy of inflection, 
startingly shrill, add to this the intense earnestness 
of an old Hebrew prophet, and the action, action, 
action of Demosthenes, let the framework be a 
carving in delicate but pronounced lines, sculptured 
after the antique — and we have a faint image of 
Teackle Wallis before the people. 

True to the influence of his education and prin- 
ciples, he promptly identified himself with the 
Southern cause. Without leading battalions to the 
field, he braved the chances of civil war. He suf- 
fered for his cause, and like a brave man, bore with 
fortitude a long confinement in a distant fortress. 
He returned from his captivity capable of becom- 
ing a firebrand of discord or an angel of peace. 
With what chivalric dignity Mr. W^allis rose supe- 
rior to all personal considerations, I am here for one 
to testify. But what testimony is needed to a 
great fact that is written in luminous letters upon 
the later history of the State ? What General Lee 



15 

accomplished for Virginia and her confederated 
States, it was within the power of Mr. Wallis to 
effect with that numerous and influential element 
of his native State which had unlimited confidence 
in his leadership. Without hesitation he adopted 
as his line of conduct, the requirements of the 
altered situation, and the general welfare of his 
fellow-citizens. He allowed his patriotism to be 
circumscribed by no sectional or party lines. It 
was not long before he found occasion to grapple 
with a monstrous peril to society, and to begin that 
magnificent series of battles for the freedom and 
purity of the elective franchise, for honest and 
economical municipal administration, and for 
reform of the civil service, in which his splendid 
gifts appeared to their best advantage, and which, 
after all, constitutes his highest title to renown. 

There was no service for which Mr. Wallis was 
more pre-eminently fitted, and with all whose exi- 
gencies he was, from personal experience, more 
perfectly familiar. He was but confronting an old 
riKMiiy under a new form. Once before, in years 
preceding the Civil War, when the sceptre of the 
law was seized by crime, the efforts of Mr. Wallis 
through the public press, by public speech, and in 
formulating and vindicating State legislation, had 
powerfully contributed to a grand reform, but a 
reform which happened to be in the interest of his 
«>wn political party. He now found himself called 
7 



16 

upon to oppose abuses perpetrated under its name. 
With what devotion and intrepidity he gave this 
crowning proof of sincerity and patriotism, is a 
matter of recent memory. 

When so many educated men deserted the field 
of politics in dismay, and so many high-toned men 
abandoned it in disgust, here was found one highly 
cultured and extremely sensitive nature, of quiet 
literary taste, of tender poetical vein, stripping for 
fight like a common gladiator, going down into the 
dust and sweat of the arena, not looking behind to 
count his followers, nor faltering for fear of foul 
play in front. Jt was not the rash courage of 
ignorance. No man better understood the formi- 
dable and crafty conspiracy he confronted. Con- 
scious of the purity of his motives, and proudly 
defiant in his armor of integrity, scurrility itself 
was awed by his presence, and the most effective 
shaft that could be hurled against him was the 
sneer that he professed to be " better than his 
party." Behind this coarse and mocking jibe, 
there is the semblance of an idea. The criticism 
is one which applies not to Mr. Wallis alone, but 
to all true reformers of politics. They are called 
doctrinaires, theorists, visionary men, Utopians. 
Their standard of political ethics is complained of 
as practically unattainable. To this there are two 
answers. One is, that there is nothing visionary 
in laying down the law to practical politicians, as to 



17 

other people, "Thou shalt not steal." The other is, 
that in politics, as in everything else, it is necessary 
to keep in view an ideal standard, and to approxi- 
mate it as far as possible under all circumstances. 
The flag must be kept flying in high places. 
Because it is shot at and riddled, is no reason for 
hauling it down. Grant that the best efforts of 
Mr. Wallis often resulted in discouraging failure. 
The failures we now see to have been only inci- 
dental and temporary. Taking a broad view of all 
these efforts in the aggregate, there is a palpable 
proof of their permanent success. It is not of 
course to be claimed for Mr. Wallis that to him is 
due the exclusive credit for whatever advances 
have been made in the last quarter of a century in 
the direction of ballot reform and of reform in the 
civil service, and especially in that essential basis 
of all reform, an awakened public conscience. But 
without hyperbole it may be said of Mr. Wallis 
that his name deserves to be forever remembered 
with honor in connection with each of these great 
reforms, as one of their most intrepid. eloquent 
and effective champions. His example will be the 
inspiration of all future efforts upon the line of 
progress. No movemenl will hereafter be made 
for securing purer methods in tin 1 administration 
of public affairs, that will not refer as its hasis 
to the principles In- inculcated, and rely for its 
impulses upon tlio authority of his name. 



18 

For his inestimable services in informing and 
arousing the public conscience, and in moulding a 
sound public opinion, we owe our deepest debt of 
gratitude to his memory. And our grief at his 
loss is augmented by the still more recent death of 
a journalist who had the will and power to con- 
tinue, although in a widely different sphere, and 
to advance, perhaps with even greater celerity, 
much of the work begun by Mr. Wallis. It is 
seldom that a community is afflicted by such a 
quick succession of kindred calamities as this com- 
munity has sustained in the death of Mr. Wallis, 
so closely followed by that of George W. Abell. 

There is one more point that ought to be made. 
I refer to the generous humanity, the broad liber- 
ality which especially marked the later years of 
Mr. Wallis' long and useful life. Abolitionism 
he hated and loathed with a hatred and loathing 
which exhausted the resources of his unmatched 
vocabulary of invective. And yet he was not an 
enemy of the negro, as anyone would have found 
to his cost who ventured to confront him with the 
charge. There are those now present who can 
testify that in this very room, no more fervent or 
persuasive words of his were ever heard than his 
eloquent plea for the liberal education of colored 
youth, and for their unrestricted admission to the 
highest privileges of professional instruction. 

The career of Mr. Wallis was a stormy one. 
The more peace to his ashes ! Measured by the 



19 

vulgar standard, it was not altogether a successful 
one. He died unmarried, untitled, unenriched. 
And yet, the world, which applauds success, bows 
before him in veneration. 

To see the death of such a man so universally 
wept is creditable to human nature. It is more : 
it is a damaging blow to pessimism. Public spirit 
cannot be dead, conscience cannot be drugged, 
patriotism cannot be sapped, in a community that 
admires such a life, applauds such a character, and 
reveres such a memory, as the life, the character 
and the memory of Severn Teackle Wallis. 

Mr. A. C. Trippe, also seconding the Resolu- 
tions, said : — 

Mr. Vice-President and Gentlemen, — 

In this venerable hall, instituted for the perpetu- 
ation of the history of our State and the good fame 
of its people, it is singularly appropriate that we 
should meet tonight to honor the memory of one 
who stood so well on the bead-roll of 1km* sons. 

Born on the 8th day of September, 181(5. and 
dying on the 11th day of April, 1S ( .>4. at the age of 
nearly seventy-eight years, Severn Teackle Wallis, 
the President of this Society, in his many sided 
character was a typical Maryland gentleman. 

Hi- reached man! 1 when the old form of 

colonial life >till dominated the social system <>t 



20 



our State, when the head of the family lived on his 
broad paternal acres, surrounded by wife, children 
and kinsmen, with a large retinue of happy and 
contented servants ; and that spirit of personal 
independence, sense of individual honor, courage 
of opinion and generosity of heart which this life 
engendered, belonged to him in high degree. 

As a lawyer he was true to the best traditions 
of our profession. To the largeness of technical 
learning he added the polish and culture of the 
scholar, and that learning and culture were ever 
ready at his hand. He was above all things an 
advocate. When he took a case it became his 
own. At the trial table there was not a weak 
point in his opponent's cause that he did not find, 
there was not one in his own that he did not 
skillfully protect. And woe betide the witness that 
trifled with the truth under his cross-examination. 
Before the jury his nice discrimination of facts and 
their bearing, his ready wit, his keen satire, and 
his tender pathos when the case required it, often 
won his client's cause, and if that cause were lost, 
it was through no fault of the advocate. 

The resources of literature came to cheer him 
amid the toils of professional life like birds sport- 
ing amid the guns. It is remarkable that he who 
was so learned a lawyer should yet be so ripe a 
scholar. His table talk would make a book worthy 
of many editions. His reading travelled through 



21 



the highest walks of English speech, had culled 
flowers in France, but most of all, it rested amid 
the libraries of the better days of Spain. 

Thus he stored his mind and developed that 
piquant style of expression which lit up his acute 
judgment of men and things in his public dis- 
courses to which we so much delighted to listen. 

And whether it was an appeal for " Leisure — its 
Moral and Political Economy," or that discrimi- 
nating masterpiece, his " Eulogy on George Pea- 
body," or his address to the young graduates of 
the Law School, or in memory of him, the great 
Chief Justice, who had attained the highest profes- 
sional honors, — whether it was a defence of the 
Southerner and his cause, and the young men he 
knew and loved who had followed its fortune, or a 
plea that our great University might be appreci- 
ated by our citizens, his end and aim was always to 
do good to some one. He tells you in the preface 
to his collected volume of addresses : " I have some 
hope, not altogether unsupported b} r the opinion of 
others, that the moral and educational truths, and 
the standard of personal, professional and political 
ethics and practice which it is my constant aim to 
inculcate and enforce, may have given a more 
permanent value to the collection than is generally 
attached to occasional addresses. 1 ' 

Bui if his published discourses marked the 

highesl intellectual culture and diseriiuiu.it ion. his 

" songs gushed from the heart." 



22 

What a touching elegy he uttered above the lit- 
tle maid whose tender frame first consecrated the 
slopes of Greenmount. Did ever a more impas- 
sioned appeal burst from the lips of man or poet 
than his prayer for peace which he wrote from the 
casemates of Fort McHenry. And when the cause 
which had his warmest sympathy went down in 
honor, and its ruined homes and devastated fields 
appealed to the charity of all, was there ever a 
more beautiful exemplification of the grace of 
giving than that which found expression in the 
" Blessed Hand." 

When you heard Mr. Wallis at the bar you said 
he was a great lawyer ; when you listened to his 
public address you recognized an accomplished 
scholar and thinker ; when you read his verses you 
were touched with the genius of the poet. Either 
sphere fills the measure of most men, but he was 
excellent in all. 

I have sometimes wished that he had devoted 
himself entirely to literature, his success in which 
could not have been questioned. What pleasing 
pictures of life would he have drawn, — like many 
of Dickens', — and would not his acute powers of 
observation and trenchant style have given us 
another Thackeray? 

Stern duty gave him to the bar where he is 
most respected and lamented, but the regret will 
always be that he was not permitted to walk amid 



23 



classic groves and make for us a new world in the 
creatures of his own imagination. 

Mr. Wallis as a citizen was earnest and patriotic. 
He loved Maryland and its people in every fibre 
of his soul. 

His aim in life was 

"Some usefu' plan to make, 
Not for his ain, but for auld Scotia's sake." 

In the struggles for political liberty which pre- 
ceded the war, he risked his life more than once 
and spent body and brain in the service till its 
accomplished deliverance. When the war came 
on and the hand of Federal power was wrongly 
put upon him, he would not bow his head to the 
mailed might of the nation, but like a Knight of 
Runnymede, demanded to know the cause of his 
detention and went forth from the casemates of the 
fortress at last — the invincible freeman ! 

During his later years he entered again the 
field of political discussion in the advocacy of the 
principles of " Civil Service Reform " as applicable 
to public employment, and for the divorcement of 
municipal affairs from party politics. 

And, whether you accepted his views or not, you 
recoct i ized the purity of his intentions and the sin- 
cerity and ability with which he maintained them. 

His Life was a protest against the material 
standard as the test of personal merit. With him 
8 



24 



wealth was desirable as a means of usefulness, but 
it was not an end to be sought for itself alone. As 
it gave opportunity to leisure, as it was the instru- 
ment of benevolence, as generosity triumphed over 
avarice, it was desirable, but the shekel of gold 
was not the criterion of moral worth, nor should 
conscience, or rather the lack of it, be approved, 
whereby 

" The jingling of the guinea 
Cures the hurt that honor feels." 

'. 

If in its attainment it dwarfed the mind and 
paralyzed the soul, it was a thing to be shunned, 
and its possessor at this cost, was to be rated by 
his personality alone and not by his acquisitions. 
There was something higher than riches — it was 
true manhood, and yet they need not be incom- 
patible. 

Tall and with clear cut intelligent features 
there was a charm in his manner which all 
recognized at once who came into his presence. 
Struggling ever with a frail body, it was won- 
derful to see how his mind and will triumphed 
over its weak integument and dragged it at the 
car of his intellectuality. 

His heart went out to kindred, friends and 
humanity. Where was there a kinder kinsman 
than he — who was truer to his friends than he, — 
and when traveling in the Swiss mountains he 



25 

came to an iron cross by the wayside with a legend 
asking the traveler who passed by to pray for the 
one who lay beneath, the appeal to him, a stranger 
from far away across the sea, stirred his inmost 
being, and his answer came, 

" Peace to thy spirit, Brother. I had knelt 
At altars where the nations came to kneel 
But knew I never, in its depths, till when 
Thy lonely shrine besought me for my prayer 
The sense of kindred with all souls of men, 
One love,, one hope, God's pity everywhere." 

It has been proposed to perpetuate the memory 
of Mr. Wallis by a memorial bust to be placed in 
the Peabody Institute, by the issuance of a collected 
edition of his works, and by the creation of certain 
scholarships. This is well. But I wish that the 
inspiration of his life might go farther. Standing- 
one day in the great London Minster an English 
gentleman artd his son passed by me, and as they 
moved from one memorial tablet or sculptured 
effigy to another, each telling of the achievements 
of him whose name it bore, I could see the boy's 
cheek flush and his eye kindle as enthusiasm and 
young ambition stirred within his soul. If, as 
Wellington had it, Waterloo was conquered at 
Eton thirty years before, is it too much to say that 
a greater influence for achievement lias gone out 
from Westminster Abbev. 



26 



And an institution of import such as this I 
would like to see established in our midst. Let 
there be set apart in the Peabody Institute, or in 
our University, some Memorial Hall, whose walls 
would illustrate by the aid of the painter's art the 
great events in the history of our State, while the 
portraits of the men who wrought them are hung 
around. Then throw the doors wide open to the 
young. Is there professor's chair or library-shelf 
which would teach our children a lesson like this ? 
What an incentive to them to emulate the motto 
of their fathers — "Manly deeds, Modest words.'' 

I know of no greater service a citizen of means 
could do our community than by the endowment 
of such a foundation as this. It would be a fitting- 
outcome of the life of one who was proud of his 
State and its story. And when this memorial hall 
shall be completed, we will hang upon its walls 
as all worthy of a place, the portrait of Severn 
Teackle Wallis. 

The question being put upon these Resolutions, 
they were adopted by a unanimous and rising vote. 



LBJa'!3 



I. 



ADDRESS 



Hon. J. MORRISON HARRIS. 




■ b^ 



ii. 



A MEMORIAL 



OF THE 



Hod. SEVERN TEACKLE WILLIS. 



galHmorr, 1896, 



uidhmhy OF CONGRESS 



014 209 943 3 



